Twitter is a Giant Echo Chamber for Wanna-be Media Types

Agree? Disagree?

Let's talk about it.

Baby Sleep Aid

Alright, this has nothing to do with programming. It's just plain cool:

Baby to Sleep

You might consider saving it for tonight instead of falling asleep at work!

The 5 Rules of Investing (Updated)

Below are are the four things I think about before making any business or investment decision. They've kept me out of a lot of trouble over the years. I hope they help you, too!

Rule 1: Do nothing. Don't ever buy or sell an investment unless you've had a consistent opinion about it for at least 30 days. This is especially important (and difficult) for young investors, because they are easily swayed by excitement and emotion. By inserting time, you'll force yourself to calm down and make a rational decision.

Rule 2: If you can't spot the sucker, it's probably you. Money always involves people, and some people are more informed than others. The more knowledgeable people will always win. Know where you sit. See rule #1.

Rule 3: Never buy investments from salesmen. This includes mutual funds, most new real estate developments, and anything with a glossy brochure. Why? If an organization is willing to invest in sales & marketing, it's because they expect to get an ROI--from you! Instead, find the un-sexy, un-polished opportunities, and be willing to do a little grunt work to get the deal set up.

Rule 4: Mind your own business. It's best to invest in hands-on kinds of things where you can actually have an effect on the outcome. For example, investing in your own web-based business, or flipping a house in a neighborhood you know well, or making improvements to an investment property. Stick with what you're already good at. It's both SIMPER and LOWER RISK. Save your educational experiences for situations that don't involve losing money!

Rule 5: Never, ever let someone else "manage" your money. Investing is already hard enough when you're dealing with someone you can trust 100% (yourself). Do you think someone else is going to care as much as you do? Of course not.

How to Instantly Spend 80% Less Time on Facebook

Square Watermelons

A few years ago, Japanese farmers realized that they could grow square watermelons using a simple technique. Their "secret" recipe doesn't require gene hacking, chemicals, or any other questionable practice. Before I reveal how they did it, let me make one point about the nature of good ideas.

Square watermelons are obviously a great idea, but only in hindsight. Good ideas are like that - obvious in hindsight. Before you saw these photos, you probably assumed the status quo; that all watermelons are awkward, difficult to transport, stack, carry, and slice. But when you see the photos, you instantly get it.

So, how do they grow square watermelons? The farmers put boxes around the melons as they grow, and the melons simply fill the available space! Brilliant!

Outsourcing: Get Over It!

If someone can do your job for less money than you, let them.

Few things in my professional life peeve me as much as some U.S. programmers' attitudes towards outsourcing. I've been in many meetings where the "issue" is discussed, and it's amazing how stiff and uncomfortable people get over such an innocent and obvious idea.

Outsourcing is sometimes problematic for legitimate reasons, but too often the discussion is driven by greed, entitlement, and small-mindedness.

Excuses

Inside many U.S. companies, programmers are waging a secret political war of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) against outsourcing.

"They barely speak English" - It's often true, I know. Communicating advanced, nuanced project details with someone who has a weak command of English is hard -- sometimes impossible. But you have to ask yourself, "are my communication skills worth x times more money?" Sometimes, yes. Often, no.

"They're not in our office" - Hey, isn't that a good thing!? I don't know about you, but I get way more work done when I'm away from office distractions.

"They're incompetent" - The notion that Indian or Chinese or Romanian programmers are less skilled than U.S. programmers is utterly laughable. You might be able to argue that cultural differences prevent foreigners from understanding your problem space as well as you do. But to suggest that the U.S. has a monopoly on hacker culture is absurd.

Solutions

Embrace eagerness. There are few things as powerful as someone who's really excited about a project. Find a way to harness this energy, whether it's in Seattle, Kansas, or Bangalore.

Make yourself valuable. Use outsourcing as an opportunity to move up the value chain. Maybe you can be the head programmer on a team of Chinese workers. Or how about starting a business that leverages the lower cost of offshore talent?

Study economics. The forces of worker supply and demand are well known, and even an Obama speech can't stop them. If someone is willing (and able) to do your job for less money than you, get over it!

Think globally. If you haven't already read The 4-Hour Work Week, please do. Embrace the planet, and you might even get to travel to amazing places like Shanghai or Singapore.

Help others. Greed is a terrible thing. If you've had some success as a developer, share your knowledge and experience with others. Helping people is fun, and it's the right thing to do.

Admit that you're already outsourcing. I recently read that 80% of goods at Wal-Mart are manufactured in China. Most likely, the clothes you're wearing were outsourced to Indonesia or Thailand or India. If it's okay to outsource your clothes, why is your project different?

Conclusion

I know this is a controversial issue, and I'd love to hear your comments. Please post them! Flamers will be deleted, so be nice!

5 Reasons Why I Do Not Own Google Stock

Recently a few people have asked me why I don't own Google stock. Their question goes something like this: "It's such a great company, you love their products, you spend thousands on AdWords for various projects, so why not own shares?"

Google is obviously a kick-ass company. They are, in many ways, the new Microsoft. They hire the best people, they produce some of the best apps, they have large user base and fast revenue growth. Although the shares are still over $500, the P/E/G ratio is reasonable, arguably. So what's up?

Below are the five reasons why I don't own Google stock.

1. Their core revenue base, AdWords, depends on people not switching search engines.
2. Google is locked in a continuous cat-and-mouse game with the search engine spammers. Every two-bit webmaster is trying to get to the top of the results, and it shows. Spammers are getting more aggressive all the time, and Google is struggling to stop them.
3. Other companies are working on better ways of searching, and will eventually leap-frog Google. For example, Facebook's social graph, if applied to search, would make search spamming much more difficult. Imagine if your search results were filtered through your friends-of-friends network. That would effectively kill spam, and you can bet Facebook is working to make this a reality. In fact, Facebook has recently hired some key Google employees.
4. When people finally decide to switch away from Google, it will be really easy. If I thought ask.com was a better engine, I could switch in 5 minutes. The moment people switch, Google's revenue could plummet!
   
5. It's a software company. I may be a programmer, but I avoid software companies as investments. The software business is too volatile. It's too easy for the next generation of geeks to create a revolutionary technology that makes the previous stuff obsolete. The next generation of apps is never more than 18 months away.

P.S. Although I don't buy shares in software companies, hardware is another matter entirely. Take Apple as an example. Apple has all kinds of lock-in that Google can't even hope to achieve. They've got the OS lock-in, the file format lock-in, the iTunes lock-in, etc. They've also got a lock on the hardware supply chain. For example, anyone who tries to make an iPod clone will inevitably pay more for the components (flash memory, touch screens, chips, etc.).